ATP World Tour - 250 Series Montpellier Preview

Our tennis Writer previews the ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Montpellier from 5 - 11 February.

One of the fastest growing cities in France, Montpellier hosted its first ATP World Tour 250 in late October. Two years after that, the indoor-hardcourt event moved to a multi-purpose venue called the ARENA, which has a capacity for 14,000 people. The 28-man draw will not exactly be populated by the crème de le crème this year, with the Australian Open commencing just a week ago.

That being said, the prize pool has increased this year and players may see this as an opportunity to win a title sans Federer and Nadal, especially as the European indoor season will soon make way for the summer outdoor season in the States. French players have enjoyed great success in this event and the likes of Tsonga and Gasquet will hope to continue this trend. Defending champion Alex Zverev won’t be competing ahead of the all-important American swing.

ATP World Tour 250 Series | 5 February - 11 February | The Arena, Montpellier

1st Quarter- Belgium David Goffin leads the seeds this week and is placed in a quarter with pugnacious Spanish bulldog David Ferrer. Goffin ended 2017 with two victories over Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the second and third seeds who he could likely face this week. Goffin was 53-24 on the main tour last year and 23-9 on the hardcourts. For me personally, Goffin’s limitations against the more powerful players are numerous. His run to the final of the ATP World Tour finals were mitigated by huge injury concerns in the male draw. I could see Karen Khachanov emerging from this quarter. David Ferrer had a brief resurgence lasts season but is certainly getting on a bit.

2nd Quarter- The second quarter looks quite interesting. Two-time champion Gasquet may have lost to Federer in straight sets in Melbourne, but it was actually a very encouraging performance. While his first match against Medvedev could prove quite challenging, I except Gasquet to emerge from this section unscathed, further exacerbating the Gaelic tradition that this tournament has fostered.

3rd Quarter- I think there may be a good chance that the eventual champion emerges from this quarter. My pick for this event is NextGen superstar Andrey Rublev. He has had a 6-2 start to the year and will be followed closely this season. But he will have the imposing presence of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to overcome. Tsonga had a brilliant five set victory over Shapovalov at the Aussie Open before pushing Nick Kyrgios to four grueling sets.

4th Quarter- The final quarter sees Lucas Pouille and Yuichi Sugita leading the section. For me, however, Alex’s less vaunted older brother Mischa Zverev may represent the best value in this section. Ultimately, I think that this could be the weakest quarter of all, and whoever progresses from here will have difficulty with the strength of the 3rd quarter.

Win Outright- Rublev to win outright at 12/1. The young Russian is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with on tour and could be in for a breakthrough year this year. Tsonga will provide a stern test in his quarter, but 12/1 looks tremendously decent for a player with this much inherent ability.

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